# Alibaba

**URL:** <https://boards.straightdope.com/t/alibaba/686791>\
**Category:** Factual Questions\
**Created:** [April 23, 2014, 6:07pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/alibaba/686791 "2014-04-23T18:07:20Z")\
**Posts on this page:** 5\
**Page:** 1

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**Author:** ![dauerbach](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/d/c2a13f/32.png) [@dauerbach](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/dauerbach)\
**Post date:** [April 23, 2014, 6:07pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/alibaba/686791/1 "2014-04-23T18:07:20Z")

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I have been reading alot about Alibaba lately. I have logged in and looked around, and cannot figure it out. It seems that I can only buy things in 10K lots, or 50Kg shipments but it seems like lots of people also do regular shopping on that site. How is this done? I tried looking at Tmall but that is all in ideograms, and I cannot read it.

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**Author:** ![ZipperJJ](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/zipperjj/32/211_2.png) [@ZipperJJ](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/ZipperJJ)\
**Post date:** [April 23, 2014, 6:20pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/alibaba/686791/2 "2014-04-23T18:20:09Z")

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I don’t think Alibaba is so much a consumer site as a wholesale site. You buy stuff to re-sell, or buy stuff to use in the making of new stuff (think Etsy) and then sell. Like Costco but in larger quantities, smaller pieces and more inventory (or rather more vendors with inventory).

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**Author:** ![PastTense](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/pasttense/32/14550_2.png) [@PastTense](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/PastTense)\
**Post date:** [April 23, 2014, 6:21pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/alibaba/686791/3 "2014-04-23T18:21:23Z")

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The companies offers multiple portals:

> **[Alibaba Group](https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Alibaba_Group)**
>
> Alibaba Group Holding Limited, or Alibaba (Chinese: 阿里巴巴), is a Chinese multinational technology company specializing in e-commerce, retail, Internet, and technology. Founded on 28 June 1999 in Hangzhou, Zhejiang, the company provides consumer-to-consumer (C2C), business-to-consumer (B2C), and business-to-business (B2B) sales services via web portals, as well as electronic payment services, shopping search engines, and cloud computing services. It owns and operates a diverse portfolio of compa

One you might try is Aliexpress  
[http://www.aliexpress.com/](http://www.aliexpress.com/)

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**Author:** ![AaronX](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/a/7bcc69/32.png) [@AaronX](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/AaronX)\
**Post date:** [April 24, 2014, 1:32am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/alibaba/686791/4 "2014-04-24T01:32:07Z")

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I’ve used AliExpress and that seems more for consumers. Takes a while to learn how to navigate, though.

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**Author:** ![Nanoda](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/n/ce73a5/32.png) [@Nanoda](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Nanoda)\
**Post date:** [April 24, 2014, 5:44am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/alibaba/686791/5 "2014-04-24T05:44:13Z")

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Like the OP, I tried to figure out once how AliExpress worked. Best I could figure was it was a front-end for companies [out of Shenzhen](http://www.freetronics.com/pages/the-ultimate-electronics-hobbyists-guide-to-shenzhen#.U1ijd_ldV8G). Kind of like Ebay+Paypal; you pay Aliexpress, and some guy sends you the stuff.

Unfortunately 90% of the reviews I read were really bad, but I want to be swayed, 'cause there are some products I saw there that I can’t get anywhere else.